Sadc leaders humiliate Mugabe

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe was yesterday ordered by an extraordinary Sadc summit to return to the Constitutional Court and seek an extension of two weeks to the date that he set aside for elections.

BY NQABA MATSHAZI IN MOZAMBIQUE

This means polls are likely to be held on August 14, if the court grants the application.

Justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa has been tasked with the filing of the application, an indication that Sadc was getting tough on Mugabe, who last week unilaterally declared July 31 as the date for elections.

The directive represented an embarrassment for Mugabe who had invoked his Presidential Powers and set an election date in violation of the Constitution and the Global Political Agreement.

Under the GPA which was signed in 2008, Mugabe was supposed to consult other principals before determining when the country could go for elections.

In a rare show of unity, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC president, Welshman Ncube, yesterday came together to convince Sadc leaders that Mugabe had erred and there was need for the order to be revised.

“He [Mugabe] accepted that, because they adopted the facilitator’s report, which has a whole range of recommendations; they also adopted our proposal to go back to court and seek an extension,” Ncube said shortly after the summit.

“From here Chinamasa, on behalf of the government, will go back and ask for an extension and during that time we hope we can do all the things we need to do, like proper voter registration and parliament can pass the electoral amendments.”

South African President Jacob Zuma, who is the facilitator to the Zimbabwean mediation, also presented a report which outlined key reforms, particularly security sector and media law amendments, Ncube explained.

He said it was now up to the Constitutional Court to decide whether it agreed with the position of the government and Sadc.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said he was happy that sanity had finally prevailed and expressed the hope that Mugabe will abide by the Sadc resolution.

“We have to be seen to respect the region. They are stakeholders in the GPA and have a stake in the way the GNU is going to divorce through elections,” said Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka.

MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti said Sadc had nullified Mugabe’s proclamation that elections be held at the end of next month, describing the summit as historical.

“The date of July 31 is not on, the time frame of the things that need to be done will determine that date,” he said.

Biti said Zuma, in his report, insisted that amendments to the Electoral Act that were agreed on should be taken to parliament and be fast-tracked, while the 30-day voter registration must continue unabated till July 9.

“Summit underscored that we need to attend to media reform, with the appointment of an Independent Media Commission, consisting of Cabinet ministers, to oversee the implementation of agreed positions, which include the appointment of a new boards for the Mass Media Commission, for the ZBC and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ),” he said.

“On the security sector the summit underscored the obligation of our security chiefs to respect the Constitution and to issue a statement complying with Article 208 of the new Constitution, which speaks to the neutrality of our security forces, that they cannot be active members of any political party and that they will respect, salute and obey any legitimate constitutional order.”

Biti said there were a number of laws that needed to be amended like Aippa, Posa, Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act and this had to be done within the given time.

Biti, who is also Finance minister, described the unlikely alliance between Tsvangirai and Ncube as an “incredible tag teaming”.
“I think most Zimbabweans would like to see a grand coalition against dictatorship and tyranny in Zimbabwe,” he said, declining to reveal if there were any pact negotiations between the two.

Chinamasa said the MDCs and Zanu PF must first negotiate on proposals that will be brought, before approaching the courts.

“We have no guarantee that the court will give the extension and the summit actually acknowledges that, because the courts are independent, so we cannot guarantee the outcome of any court application,” he said.

The key operative decisions of SADC are that:

GOVERNMENT through the ministry of Justice is ordered and directed to make an application to the constitutional court following consultations by all political parties ,seeking to move the date of the election from July 30 2013.

That the agreed amendments to the Electoral Act which had purportedly been made into law by the President using the Presidential Powers(Temporal Measures ) Act be brought to Parliament this Tuesday for debate and adoption.

That the Sadc facilitation team and the troika team appointed in Livingstone sit in Jomic and not merely receive reports as demanded by Zanu PF.

That an Inter Ministerial Committee be appointed to deal with implementation of agreed issues on media reform and the monitoring of hate speech in all media.

That the security forces publicly state or restate their commitment to the rule of law in particular their complete adherence to section 208 of the constitution.

That within the time Parliament has remaining the parties negotiate and make the necessary amendments to Posa, Aippa,the Broadcasting Act ,section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, etc.

That Sadc observers be deployed immediately consistent with the Sadc Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
l That any other issue and the implementation of the above be overseen by the facilitation team.

Mugabe was ‘embarrassed by his advisors’

Speaking before the summit, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition director, McDonald Lewanika urged Sadc to ensure that it did not endorse a poll that fell short of the minimum standards of a democratic election.

“Sadc should continue piling pressure on Zimbabwe, saying they will not recognise an election that is not credible,” he said.
Attempts to get a comment from Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo were fruitless as his mobile was not reachable.

Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the Secretary General of the MDC said Mugabe was humiliated at the meeting.

She wrote on her Facebook page: “Am sitting in this summit and so conflicted, I have listened to President Mugabe, heard Prime Minister Tsvangirai, listened to Prof Ncube give a plain and simple explanation on the unconstitutionality of the proclamation.

“I am glad we can put our case but do we have to get here where a group of people drag their leader here, advise him wrongly therefore embarrassing him in front of his colleagues.

“How do people set their leader like this, I can’t even look at him, but more so, am so angry with this group who want President Mugabe to end his career this way.”

60 Responses to Sadc leaders humiliate Mugabe

I liked how both our leaders,Tsvangirai and Ncube ended their electric presentations.

Tsvangiria looked at Mugabe and ended by saying:”Mr President,why should it have to be about your power,and not about our people..”

Ncube also ended by looking at Mugabe and said: ” We want you to be our President,and not to be the President of ZanuPF”.

Chinamasa very badly advised the President,and is still being stubborn by saying that it will be up to the Constituitional Court to agree to extend the extension.He nicodimously instructed the constitutional court to make this judgement,he must deal with it.

Chinamasa is also saying that they must agree on the amendment proposals before approaching the court.Parliament has only 15 days to go and if he delays this process any further,those elections will move to 11 September 2013.

It is evident that the MDCs will not participate in these elections because there is everything unconstitutional about the whole process.Sadc will understand and will not bless Mugabe going it alone.
I hope that Mugabe will see sense and will want to end his career in a more positive note.

@kufandada – “Mugabe will see sense and will want to end his career in a more positive note” – how can you talk of ending his career in a more positive note when his henchmen massacred over 40 000 unarmed civilians in Gukurahundi? The only way he can end his career in a positive note is when he does the impossible – bring back TO LIFE all those killed during his watch! Have you forgotten about Gukurahundi and other atrocities committed during Mugabe’s watch? Nothing will ever erase that massacre and those other heinous atrocities.

The court decision is final it declared that by not calling for elections by the end of the 5 year term of government the first respondent who was the President had violated the rights of the applicant Mawarire and that continuing to operate or hold office under the circumstances constituted a violation of the constitution the President if he approaches the court for an extension of time will be approaching the court with dirty hands see A.N.Z versus MIC and others. Because the courts cannot for political expediency sanitize an illegality. Jealous Mawarire make sure that you make an application for a joinder in this particular case that the Minister cites you as a respondent then oppose the attempt to reverse the rights gained.

Tsvangirai wake up. Harare, Epworth and Chitungwiza now constitute almost a quarter of Zims population according to latest census yet they only have 5reg centres,one of wc is centred in Hre South.
We have been turned away for days.
Why why why why why Morgan are you ignoring this?
Im beginning to dislike you for setting your priorities wrong.
Nxa nxa nxa,

I wonder how zanu pf is going to spin this one. Shuwa here akomana dragging a 90year old elderly men all the way to maputo to embarrass him infront of the whole SADC. This is bad for zimbabwe.

A whole president to be told by a neighbor that what you said yesterday was rubbish, start thinking again. This is all to do with silly little factional fights within zanu pf, now they are dragging all of us through the mud. We no appear as illiterate fools who cant run their own house.

Whats so hard about following the law and do the reforms, let everyone who want to vote get registered? Whats so hard for chiwenga and chihure stick to their constitutional duties rather than assss lick the shrivelled behinds of mugabe?

There is no victory here for the MDCs because the regional body by tasking the President through Minister Chinamasa to file an appeal for extension of time by up to 14 days recognizes the fact that the judgement by the court unless revoked by the same court is final. However parliament expires by law on 29 June 2013 what reforms do the 2 MDCs intended to move through in 14days i.e after 31 July 2013 without parliament is this not vexatious, frivolous attempt to undermine the judiciary and sovereign authority of Zimbabwe, and seeing that Zimbabwe hosts the World Tourism event at that time making it unlikely for elections to be held in August. Is this not an attempt to get through the back door what they failed through the front door and will the President and his party and the judiciary not see through this gimmick. Finally what is the possibility of the Court of last instance overturning its own decision bearing in mind that the applicant Mawarire had requested for elections to be held by 31 June or be 25 July had in coming up with the 31st made an allowance to the executive to put its house in order.

There are simple issues that you have elected to miss. Mugabe did not expect SADC to recommend that he goes back to the same ConCourt and seek reprieve. If the president wanted a clear road map to elections, he should have approached the ConCourt instead of waiting for SADC to do so. All the current government positions are negotiated-a point that the president seems to have forgotten.

These elections will be funded by SADC, it is only reasonable to expect SADC to insist on a road map that produces an acceptable result.

The true meaning of GNU is that you will always have a government that rules under instruction from SADC mostly. The two MDCs emphasized the critical point that the advisors to the president varikutamba bhora rembabvu. To draw the attention of SADC leaders, thats all they needed to show.

The most important point to consider is that the holding of elections is a democratic right derived from the constitution and the blood of countless Zimbabweans that lost their lives from the 1800 to date for democracy it is not a privilege bestowed upon Zimbabweans by few politicians. The Concourt ruled that the first respondent the President had violated the right of the applicant by failing to perform his duties in accordance with the constitution of proclaiming an election date. The attempt to appeal or violate this right through further delays constitutes a further violation one judge once said a thief is in mora the moment he steals simply put a thief time to hold on to his loot creates a legal vacuum for the dispossessed and an immediate need to restore the right to the victim. The court recognized that election have a legal due date which in this case is way past elections are never a product of political will between parties. Finally attempts by the President to appeal against the ruling qualifies for the Dirty Hands principle the attempt is based on unwillingness by the parties not to conform to court ruling the PM has already expressed contempt at the courts decision and promised not to honor it stating that the court had acted outside its mandate now approaching the court is a mere attempt to endorse this contempt through the back door seeking to sanitize illegality. The court should ensure that politicians do not use influence to undermine its authority whether through SADC AU UN e.t.c.

It is really uinfortunate that things should turn out this way..why cant all the parties in the GNu build on what they did at the referendum? Like Priscilla says in her twitter/facebook account, she felt sorry for the president for getting this poor advice from people he should be counting on..this is tragic. Like Kufandada says above that Ncube is alleged to have said to the president,”We want you to be our president, not the president of ZANUPF”..If this were true, then what Ncube said is exactly how the average Zimbabwean would like to see Mr. Mugabe, that he is president of Zimbabwe first and then ZANUPF last, The same applies to Mr. Tsvangirayi, he is the PM first before being President of MDC for it is in their government posts that Zimbabweans have this respect for them. The American constitution has this clause..”the pursuit of happiness”..between the two of them the President and PM are responsible for fulfilling our desire in our pursuit of this happiness right down to the family unit and individuals. The ink is not even dry on their signatures at the referendum whose conduct made Zimbabweans proud and the world was pleasantly surprised while detractors ran for the nearest bush to hide. We walked tall with our conduct of the referendum, did we not?? Why two of the most important citizens that we all look up to should look upon the coming election as a war is extremely upsetting to most Zimbabweans who have staked everything in them to do the right thing and go to an election without this unnecessary rancour..

In an ideal world the pursuit of happiness should start from the bottom up but still we count on our leaders to provide direction. I have just seen this near Untopian gem..about happiness. I think the message says people are not looking to have bulging wallets, they want to be happy and having loads of money has LITTLE to do with it. If people saw their leaders trying to improve their lot and cutting their cloth according to their lengths and sweating with them to build a better tomorrow they will not mind having one meal a day because EVERYONE is poor. What hurts people is these incessant unproductive fights whcih do not benefit any one and seeing thieves flaunting ill gotten wealth when everyone is starving. Could it be that this group of anonymous robber citizens are holding our leaders to ransom?? If this were true, then god help the land.

I am not sure who penned this, I was so sure it was Confucius or Tao but I was unable to find a reference but I found it catching for its symmetry:
:
“A happy couple, makes up a happy family, happy families make up happy surroundings, happy surroundings make up happy communities,happy communities make up happy nations and happy nations make up a happy world”..Interesting, yah? Costa Rica is not by any stretch of imagination a rich country but on the happiness index it sits on top of the world according to a recent survey…So the issue is not that Zimbabwe is poor, it is this unproductive fighting which hurts the common man in the street aka as Mr. Everyone Everywhere.

Coming back to the issue of the election dates..it is not the date that should be at stake but what lies between today and the election date, like these reforms which would contrary to some bellligerant idiots among us actually make up for a better election..one that we all deserve and are happy about like we did with referendum..fast track these changes lets get on with the real issues at hand: building back our lost glory. Remember the greater number of people out there are neither ZANU nor MDC, they are just Zimbabweans who would like to live in a normal society and they wouldnt care one way or the other who is the president of this country but what he will do for THEM. Why would the two major parties which should know better halt the progress of a whole country because of their petty differences???

Thank you SADC and AU for retoring back the confidence that was going to be lost on you had you decided in favour of the dictator.President Zuma people of Zimbabwe salute you for having been able to avoid the repeat of 2008 which is spear headed by a suspicious concourt .We know how hard it is to progress when working with dictators like Mugabe.Keep on the good work up to the end.

Mugabe has himself to blame not only for clinging to power for eternity but also for showing faith in a group of suspicious, greedy, corrupt and morally bankrupt characters who clearly have an ulterior agenda of discarding him in their zanu-pf bin.Mugabe is now ending his controversial career in the same sorry and messy manner as Joseph Mobutu and Hastings Banda.

Really, i fail to understand those who say Mugabe was humiliated. IN FACT IF AT ALL SOMEONE was humiliated its tsvangirai and team, why? because they said the con court had no jurisdiction over this matter, but SADC took note of the con court ruling and referred all parties back to the same court. Honestly speaking are we so dumb and stupid not to understand this decision. Mugabe actually won and what do 14 days change. Is pathetic that leaders who claim to represent a lot of people are celebrating a defeat, no wonder why the word shut mind is very popular these days.

“Mugabe will see sense and will want to end his career in a more positive note” – how can you talk of ending his career in a more positive note when his henchmen massacred over 40 000 unarmed civilians in Gukurahundi? The only way he can end his career in a positive note is when he does the impossible – bring back all those killed during his watch! Have you forgotten about Gukurahundi and other atrocities committed during Mugabe’s watch? Nothing will ever erase that massacre and those other heinous atrocities.

“Mugabe will see sense and will want to end his career in a more positive note” – how can you talk of ending his career in a more positive note when his henchmen massacred over 40 000 unarmed civilians in Gukurahundi? The only way he can end his career in a positive note is when he does the impossible – bring back TO LIFE all those killed during his watch! Have you forgotten about Gukurahundi and other atrocities committed during Mugabe’s watch? Nothing will ever erase that massacre and those other heinous atrocities.

@scott u r ryte i feel sori for mugabe,his pple misinform him. He really must have felt embarassed havin to reverse wat he did! Bt it all goes bk to him since he is arrogant, intransigent. It was wonderful judgement frm sadc , jst hope they monitor and enforce their resolutions esp on media and security. It seemed by decreeing elections tht has backfired on zanu. Mdc 5 Zanu 0

Anyone who heard what the SADC spokesman said last night knows that SADC did not ORDER Mugabe but simply suggested that he approaches the constitutional court for “a possible” extension.

SADC never said Mugabe’s proclamation was illegal & neither did SADC say the constitutional court order of July 31 was illegal.

The SADC spokesman actually clearly said that SADC respects the constitutional court order of July 31 & will respect any other decision it makes in the application to be made by the Ministry of Justice tomorrow.

Non of what was decided yesterday is automatic or a final conclusion because, in arriving at its decision, the constitutional court clearly used legal expectations of the Zimbabwean constitution, in as far as elections after parliament expires are concerned, to make its order while the SADC suggestion last night used political expectations which legally, can not override any orders made by the constitutional court.

The constitutional court has already indicated that it had looked at all the legal implications of everything involved but ***when & how parliament & cabinet terms expire & commence supersedes the obligations of unfinished business or process by cabinet & parliament.***

Basically, the current feud is based on the political & legal process leading to elections BUT the constitutional court order is based on exactly when & how soon elections should take place after cabinet & parliament terms expire.
This is a case of a “legal process’ vs a legal time frame”.

The “legal time” frame is more important than the “legal process” because if the process happens outside the allowed time limits then the process’ risks becoming defunct, void, illegal or simply unconstitutional.

So while the constitutional political process may require more time, the constitutional obligations dont have the time.

SADC & everyone in that room praised what SADC had said & everyone including SADC agreed that they will respect the constitutional court decision, meaning SADC is no longer responsible for what the court will say.

Now ask yourself. Why would the same court which made the order for elections on July 31,after looking at all legal facts, suddenly turn around to change its own decision when:
1- The SADC suggestion is just a suggestion?
2- The SADC suggestion is not binding?
3- Reversing its own decision will undermine the same court?
4- Its decisions are final?
5- It is not under ANY pressure to reverse its own decision?

Well reasoned and properly put you clearly have a strong analytical not clouded by emotion or poor judgement. One thing that all those who are celebrating is that the applicant in this case will be the President who has already accepted the current decision what will make him challenge earnestly a decision he has made to please his political foes and excite the boo boys who are already booing him.

Exactly, it is not in the president’s or the constitutional court’s interest to reverse the court order & proclamation which people with no legal advantage are celebrating as a defeat. The boastful celebrations may actually complicate what would have otherwise been very easy to consider.

We are able to distinguish the trees from bushes. Just wait and see have you heard the phrase approaching courts with dirty hands this is exactly what will happen here. The PM has already publicly stated that he will not honor the courts verdict and will boycott election there are held by 31July a per judgement. So the court is being directed either reverse or I will disobey. Secondly the Summit accepted the judgement the application seeks to extend the time frame but we know that this attempt is aimed at appeasing the ego of certain politicians.

@Celebrating too early—-you do have a point, there is nothing to celebrate but shame all round..but then might interpretation of the text be somewhat different? The SADC resolution is not asking the Concourt to reverse anything, they are asking for an EXTENSION for compliance..spot the difference? Nothing out of the ordinary here. You will no doubt recall the case of by-elections where an extension was granted as the President asked for an extension for compliance. The Minister of Justice has sufficient ground citing precedent in the by election issue. I think as Zimbabweans we should drive past this ‘them and us’ thing, it is nonsensical. The full text of the case was this Mawirire guy against the principals of government whose head is the president not in his personal capacity, so there is no way Ncube and Tsvangirayi and others forming government can not exclude themselves or be excluded from the judgement. People are making out like the Maputo summit was a war, it was just brothers not agreeing and asking neighbours to assist..why can we not look at it this way and move on? The real winners at the end of the day should be the Zimbabwean Mr. Everyone Everywhere and his family and friends. Lets stop gauding our leaders to fight unnecessarily with belligerant statements that ultimately come to bite us in the rear, we are the ones suffering not those on the top table. Lets act and speak responsibly and STOP appearing like we are watching some movie or the English Premier league on TV, this has EVERYTHING to do with our livelihoods and we should give it the seriousness it deserves. Lets tell our leaders across the political divide, please start doing things for us, we are the ones who put you in office not this present nonsense where we pride ourselves on meaningless infantile pass time of who insults the other one best..we have only one Zimbabwe and it is for all of us. As a nation lets all GROW UP going forward…

Gutter Poet,you speak for the generality of most people.Especially those who wish only that is good for our collective wellbeing.Our politics has become so tiresome.Its as if local politicians delight in causing us great discomfort every waking day.Zimbabweans are literary hostages to these politicians.This is why people are hoping for the best from these SADC mediation efforts because truly speaking, the only people who will benefit from these rushed elections is the corrupt oligarchy.

well done you are in the light.Sadc’s suggestion was done in a diplomatic manner all it was trying to say is it cant interfere with internal issues of the country worse still involving the courts.In a way Sadc said this to cover its own head,,in shona yakageza maoko but people who are shallow minded like those in the mdc cannot understand this.The decision of the court is final period.

This is the beginning of an end as the Dictator always thought he could always have it his way. SADC you have proved that nobody is bigger than the region. I like the fact that you ‘ordered and directed’ Chinamasa and the absent minded Bob to do the right thing. Next time Bob won’t think with his butt hopping to get away with it.

@celebrating too early u r lost! Yy do u leave out the resolution passed? This reversed what mugabe had passed, by dictating to him things to do isnt tht embarassment enuf? Sadc is now goin to enforce all resoution more this time.

In 2008 the Chief Justice proclaimed Mugabe the rightfully elected President after his one man bloody election run-off race.The rest,as they say,is history.So much for your blind faith in this politically constituted and inspired constitutional court.

Sadc has no power to do order the president my friend but it can make suggestions as it did.What it said is not legally binding,the courts of Zimbabwe have the final say and it remains to be seen who was actually humiliated.

I dont know why you MDC people are jumping up & down as if you won anything.
That Sadc statement is not an order. It means absolutely nothing to the constitutional court.

An example is Sadc’s precedent in Madagascar.
On June 5, the Electoral Court in Madagascar confirmed the candidacy of three controversial candidates Lalao Ravalomanana, Andry Rajoelina and Didier Ratsiraka, who are participating in the election in contravention of a Sadc call to exclude them.

The Madagascar courts have ruled against the Sadc position and Sadc has not been able to do anything about it.

Sadc is not a court can never be & will never even attempt to be a court especially to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is not new to Sadc. The Sadc Tribunal which was set up in 1992 had jurisdiction over it member-states’ judiciary but it was unceremoniously suspended at the 2010 Sadc summit in Namibia because of who? Zimbabwe!!

Zimbabwe objected to the Tribunal’s ruling against the State in the cases brought before it by Zimbabwean white farmers.

In objecting to the rulings of the Sadc Tribunal, Zimbabwe questioned its legality.

Now if Zimbabwe can object to a SADC ruling made by its legal arm & also successfully have the Tribunal disbanded because it was exposed as illegal, how on earth does anyone with all his marbles expect Zimbabwe to accept a non legally binding request from the same body over such a sensitive issue???

Mugabe only agreed to follow the request to approach the courts but the courts are have not agreed to the request & they have no reason to.

Il be very surprised if elections are held on any other date than July 31.

It serves this old man right. How can leader be like this? We deserve better leadership as Zimbabweans. Right we are struggling in other people’s country while our beloved country burns all in the name of power. Credible elections is the way to go.

@Gutter Poet that’s it. We do not need much other than the necessities. Most pple out there are just looking for an opportunity to work and feed their families, to house them in a good shelter, to be successful in life and leave an inheritance to their grandchildren. We do not need a country where one shall betroth a wife, but another man lies with her; (sanctioned rape by the state) nor where one shall build a house, but shall not dwell in it (because of viloence); plant a vineyard, and fail to gather its grapes (invasions and forceble acquisations). Zimbabwe must not be a country where there is lawlessnes to the extent that your oxen will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and will not be restored to you; your sheep then, be given to your enemies, and have no one to rescue them. Our daughters being given to another people (as was in Taliban & Boarder Gezi camps), and our eyes just looking and fail with longing for them all day long; with no strength in our hands (cause Chihuri and the Police will do nothing). We do not need China nation whom we have not known to come and eat the fruit of our land and the produce of our labor (through cheap labor), and to only oppress and crush us continually.
We have minerals throughout all our territory, but we cannot benefit ourself with that underground riches; We have born sons and daughters, but they are not ours; for they have gone into voluntery captivity (around the whole world). Look at China (the look east policy) it is rising higher and higher above us and, we coming down lowe and lower.

We just need a leader whose language we understand, a leader of a lovely, not an agressive policies, who respects democracy and show favor to his people.

The only body with the power to reverse any constitutional court judgments is the Zimbabwean parliament & the court knows this very well. The constitutional court’s decisions are final & remain final irregardless of who asks it to change its decision.
The government is made up of three arms, parliament, executive & the judiciary. The judiciary’s job is to make sure politicians do not overstay or implement policies or rules which are outside the law (constitution). Instructing the constitutional court to make extensions to expired terms of office is like asking a mother if you can rape her daughter.

You are ranting mate. Those guys, SADC heads of States are not stupid. They would have been advised legally to arrive at that decision. Above all Chidyausiku has been offered a chance to redeem himself and what choice does he have? His judgement was not sound in law and you know it. Instead of interpreting the law for us less mortals he wrote a new law, which he then interpreted and made a judgement on. Moving comas about the original meaning got lost. This did confuse some but did not hoodwink all.

You haven’t forgotten surely that the same Chidyausiku has been sitting on cases since 2000. So he has build himself a rich history in the negative.

In fact can you tell me what Sadc will do if the courts decide to ignore their advice?
And before you flatter yourself with more meaningless stuff, you should remember that Sadc has already pledged to respect any judgement the court makes including the July 31 judgement.

What we saw yesterday was a bunch of men being fed a Placebo.
A Placebo is only effective when the receiver has no clue they are being tricked.
For the benefit of those who may not know what a Placebo is,
A Placebo is a substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient’s expectation that he/she will get well from it.
Two weeks? What can you do in two weeks?
The Commander in Chief of the Defence & Armed forces-the same forces the MDC claim to be a threat to citizens- has declared on many many occasions that violence will not be allowed & people should not attack anyone in the name of ZanuPF, but the MDC thinks if Chiwenga or Chihuri make the same declaration then security sector reforms will be complete? And what will two weeks of cover on the main ZBC TV News do for the Mdc who have pirate radios broadcasting to more people than Zbc?

There is a misconception that ZanuPf is scared of Zuma.
Far from it. Zuma is not SADC & if he has managed to influence Sadc decisions on Zimbabwe then ZanuPf is not really worried about him considering his term as broker comes to an end this September when the Sadc chairmanship & Troika chair are handed over to guess who? Angola & Malawi, the same countries who dont like the MDC.
Infact it would be a good idea for the MDC if elections are held while Zuma is still able to defend them because the next lot coming to take charge of SADC dont like the MDC one bit.
Zuma is also a gonner next year when he will be removed as SA president, so Zuma is no threat to ZanuPF.

@zanu pf still in charge stop ranting abt nothing! We all know tht the concourts judgement ws nt legally sound bt a biased ndpolitical decision. Yy dd chidyausiku compel mugabe to declare elections on july 31 whn he is sharing power wth tsvangirai under the GPA? Wat Sadc did is morally and legally correct. Thr z no point of rushing to elections wthout reforms whuch wil be disputed. Zanu has bn cornered here, admit it in little head. U act as if sadc wasnt advised before their decision, not true man

Ndebele and Celebrating Too Early you are wrong.Yes Sadc acknowledges the judgement of the Concourt and respects it,that is why it is saying Mugabe must go and beg it to change the dates.Sadc and MDC are not challenging Concourt.They are challenging the actions of Mugabe which contravened the Constitution.He must remedy that by going to Concourt.That is what he should have realised before,that complying with Concourt will result in further breaches to the Constitution.Concourt did say that it does not want breaches to the Constitution in order to fulfil another breach.June 29 has already been breached,and maybe if Mugabe had acted immediately after the Concourt ruling and commenced voter registration,maybe we would not have the situation that we are now in.
If Chinamasa delays bringing the Electoral Act to Parliament,he will be the one to blame if the deadline of 14 August is not met.So tomorrow:
(1) Chinamasa must rescind all the three illegal instruments.
(2) On Tuesday the Electoral Act must be presented before Parliament and fast tracked.
(3) Amendments to Posa,Aippa and ZBC Boards etc to be made by this Friday.
(4) Election dates will be announced after the electoral act has been passed by both houses of parliament and signed into law by the President,hopefully by 28 June 2013 when the life of parliament ends.
(5) Nomination day to be announced 29 June 2013.
(6) 30 day voter registration ends on 9 July 2013.
(7) Nomination day will be 13 July 2013.
(8) Elections any day after 14 August 2013.
(9) Chiwenga,Chihuri and Zimondi to make a public statement that they wiil respect the vote and salute Tsvangirai if he wins the elections as President.

The President has authority to use the same powers this is what they have been advocating to rule for four months without parliament. The President can not rescind the 3 instruments if parliament sits and passes the necessary legislation the instruments become invalid. Asking the Generals will be trivializing their ranks and moreover politicizing them. Its their right to salute whom they want because any why talk about if Tsvangirayi comes to power not see whether he comes to power.

Guys we can analyze and scrutinize , well said, but the world and the continent’s tolerance of dictators has a evaporated. Robert should not just trick his way to power, he has to bear in mind the tricks after the power may run out. Full blown economic embargoes can halt him.
….plus many other consequences he thinks he can duck. He thinks he is a Machiavelli, but even Mubarak or Gadafi thought they were, until the winds of change came to their door steps

the winner take all and mwana wekumusha corruption has dragged the country to hell there is nothing democratic from mdct its just the other side of the coin sadc have long back seen it. People have voted for the constituition the new government will enforce changes . Babulali satwalanzima nxa

I wonder what exactly will be achieved in 2 weeks extension. I also doubt if the court is to overturn its earlier judgement because the state has already complied with it. It remains my opinion that the MDC should now change focus and move into election gear. They should now vigorously start campaigns because its now all systems go.

Now I am beginning to respect Prof. Welshman Ncube. If you are reading this please note that I now respect you the same way I respect Dr. Morgan Tsvangirai. you are such a good father. Keep it up. I liked the way you teamed up with Dr. Tsvangirai to shame these shameless people. We are being you as a nation.

Tsvangirai and Ncube job well done, but trully speaking 14 more days makes no deference , please lobby for 30 days. What can be changed in 14 days. I feel SADC are still toothless they are scared of Mugabe they gave you a raw deal. What is an Adidas deal to Highlanders and dynamos is what is 14 days extension to MDC s. Mugabe will still benefit , remember to voter registration is almost halfway but with few people being registered and the large Majority being denied their constitutional right.